Malik Ishaq, leader of banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), was arrested at the Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore on Thursday, upon his return from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah, The Express Tribune has learnt.

According to the Punjab police and Punjab public prosecution department records, Ishaq is involved in more than 40 cases, in which 70 people were killed, a majority of whom belonged to the Shia community.

Model Town Division SP Awais Malik confirmed to The Express Tribune that Ishaq had been arrested in a case registered with the Nashtar Colony Police Station under section 295-A of the PPC on charges of spreading religious hate.

The police official said the case had been registered during the month of Ramazan, after Ishaq spread religious hate through a fiery speech in Lahore on the eve of the Khatam-e-Nubuwat conference. Following his arrest, Ishaq has been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation, sources familiar with the development said.

The LeJ leader was released from Kot Lakhpat jail on July 14, 2011 after 14 years of imprisonment when the Supreme Court granted him bail in the case involving a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team.